


21 Things I Want In A Lover

by Katybug1992



Category: Men's Hockey RPF
Genre: ...I mean Captain, Colton for President!, Fluffy and No Angst, M/M, all fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-18
Updated: 2020-10-18
Packaged: 2021-03-08 21:34:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,333
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27073552
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Katybug1992/pseuds/Katybug1992
Summary: Colton has criteria for a boyfriend and Marco meets all of them.
Relationships: Colton Parayko/Marco Scandella
Comments: 3
Kudos: 30





	21 Things I Want In A Lover

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by the song of the same name by Alania Morrisette.
> 
> Also, I wrote three angsty fics (one of which killed me emotionally for over twelve hours) that I posted just to my tumblr (Schwizzle-Schwartz) and I needed to write a Fluffy one to make up for it.

1.

Marco was so excited to play in Saint Louis. And Colton had a solid D partner again. He wasn’t Bouw, but no one was. What had surprised Colton was how quickly he and Marco clicked on ice. They hadn’t had any real practice time before their first game together, but it definitely did not show. 

And Marco was so excited to be part of the team, to part of the locker room. To be Colton’s D-partner. Before they had even played a shift together, he was already talking Colton up. And Colton was well-used to celly hugs, but Marco was on a different level. 

It wasn’t just with Colton, either. It was with Petro, and Jake, and Schwartzy and Schenner. It was with everyone. He embraced this team and city with his whole heart and he often dragged Colton with him when he wanted to go exploring.

And he was there when Colton had a bad day. When he lurked on Social Media and stumbled upon some not great comments. Marco was there to take the phone out of Colton’s hand and put it aside. To distract him with cheat foods, movies, and anything else that came to mind.

2\. 

Marco was competitive. That much was obvious. But he also didn’t cheat when he was in last place in Mario Kart like Eddy tried to do every time. And like Sammy is really bad at doing.

He doesn't get too into the game and threaten divorce like Schenner and Schwartzy did every time they played monopoly.

The only time Colton had seen Marco play the slightest bit dirty was when the team had been playing beach volleyball on an off day on the Florida swing. And that was because Borts had been taunting him. So, while Jaden had been distracting Borts by talking shit from the sidelines, Marco spiked the ball so that it landed right in front of Bobho and shocked a shriek out of him.

And Colton had turned to face away to hide his smile, but he knew Marco saw it because he beamed back at Colton - looking for all the world like he only did what he did to get that smile.

3\. 

Marco was smart. And he enjoyed having “intellectual” conversations with Colton. He enjoyed going to museums with Colton. Watching documentaries. He took book suggestions and actually read them. He bought Colton books as a surprise and had his own recommended list.

He taught Colton a little bit of French and a little bit of Italian. But those lessons didn’t tend to last long because Colton had been only a little embarrassed about how much it turned him on to hear Marco talk.

And it had been a long time since Colton had met someone who would just listen to him talk - much less respond and have their own opinions. 

It was refreshing and never failed to make Colton fall just a little more for Marco every time.

4\. 

When Marco had kissed Colton the first time, Colton’s eyes had widened and he had pulled back.

“I can’t…. I don’t do casual,” Colton stated, not making eye contact with Marco, “I get attached too easily and I’ve been burned too many times. So if this isn’t -”

“I want you, Colton,” Marco grinned at Colton.

“For how long?”

“However long you’ll have me.”

Colton searched his face for any sign of a lie and found none.

“Okay.”

“Okay?”

“Okay.”

Colton grinned and pulled Marco back in for another kiss.

5\. 

Marco made Colton laugh. Not that it was a hard feat. He and Robbi were probably the easiest laughs on the team.

But Marco still lit up every time he got a laugh out of Colton. 

6\. 

There were not a ton of people who could go toe-to-toe with Colton, who could take control. But Marco could. And after their first time, Colton had laid there, catching his breath, in slight awe of the man grinning cockily at him.

And Marco was good at every aspect of sex and he always seemed to anticipate what Colton wanted - whether he wanted it was slow and steady or hard and fast or if he just wanted to get drunk and makeout like a couple of teenagers.

Marco just knew and Colton was amazed every time.

7\. 

Marco was athletic and fit. Duh. This was something Colton already knew about him. 

But when he saw the Instagram video of Marco chopping wood…. Colton regretted the decision to stay in Saint Louis during the pause.

8\. 

Whether it was walking around Forest Park or hiking at Castlewood, sometimes even venturing a couple hours away from the city if they had the day, or trying all the restaurants that family and teammates and random citizens suggested to him, Marco wanted Colton to join him.

The City Museum had been a highlight. Pear had decided a team trip was in order, which meant that Jaden got dragged in because of course actual children would be there with their dads but the team’s Kids would also be there and both groups would be competing for his attention. Colton and Marco had apparently missed the showdown between Aleksandr and Mason and Vince and Sammy about who Jaden should go into the tunnels with.

Normally, Colton would have been disappointed to miss that. Minis Vladi and Pear were very bad at sharing Jaden’s attention, as were Dunner and Sammy. But this time he didn’t care. Because he and Marco had gotten themselves lost in one of the darker sections of tunnels and had been heavily making-out, so he couldn’t say he was sad that he missed it.

The disappointment was also eased when Robby sent him the video later that day.

9\. 

Marco had opinions and he wasn’t afraid to voice them, even if Colton didn’t agree with him. They had healthy debates.

And sometimes they were opinions about small things, like where a bear or shark would win in a fight, and sometimes they were about very real things, like that Colton deserved to have the C on his sweater regardless of his age and anyone who said otherwise could go fuck themselves (Colton had to take Marco’s phone from after the announcement that he would be the next Captain went up because in the span of ten minutes, Marco had gotten into several Twitter and Instagram fights).

10\. 

Marco was always respectful of what Colton wanted. It didn’t matter to Marco if they didn’t want the same thing. Colton rarely complained, so if Colton said he didn’t want to do something, they didn’t do that. 

Marco always knew when to push and when to let it go. And no one had ever caught onto Colton’s tells like that.

11\. 

Marco understood Colton in a way that only Joel ever had. And he understood that there were some things that only Joel would be able to help with.

The day after the Captaincy announcement, when it really hit Colton and then settled like weight on him, Marco had stepped out of the room for a minute and came back, holding out his phone in front of Colton. The phone that was displaying Eddy’s face on the screen.

“Hey, Big Guy,” Eddy’s voice was soft, with that teasing edge it always got when he was trying to make it sound like he wasn’t worried about Colton.

“I’m going for a run,” Marco whispered, pressing a kiss to Colton’s temple before leaving the house.

“He’s a good guy,” Joel told Colton earnestly, “He’s got my approval.”

And Colton gave a small smile. Because none of his other boyfriends had ever gotten anywhere near approval from Joel.

12\. 

Marco was the first person in a long time who didn’t try to manipulate Colton. If Colton said no, he didn’t try to guilt him into changing his mind. He didn’t push the subject. He didn’t try to trick Colton into it. He just accepted the answer at face value.

Colton felt like he could trust him with anything. And that was a new feeling for Colton.

13\. 

Marco was spontaneous. And the first time Colton learned this was when he got woken up by Marco’s alarm at five in the fucking morning on their day off in Vancouver.

“What the hell??” Colton whined, shoving a pillow over his head.

“Come on,” Marco pulled the pillow off and grinned down at him, “Fish Market!”

“What does that mean?” Colton glared, trying to put on the ‘I’m-Your-Captain-I-Don’t-Have-To-Put-Up-With-This-Shit’ face that he had seen Petro make countless times over the years.

“I think it’s pretty obvious,” Marco’s smile grew as Colton groaned but got up.

It was an actual fish market. Colton glared at Marco, who had laughed as Colton almost got hit in the face by a fish that the vendor had barely caught.

But next to the fish market was a farmers’ market, where Colton picked up some fresh fruit for breakfast and blushed when Marco presented him with a bouquet of flowers.

14\. 

The Captaincy was A LOT. And Colton had known to anticipate it. Everyone knew that he was Petro’s heir.

But Marco, Marco noticed the added weight Colton had started carrying with him. And Marco knew when Colton needed to talk to someone - whether that was Eddy or shutting himself in Jaden’s room for the night.

Marco always made it clear that he was there for Colton, too. He never complained when Colton needed someone else. When Colton chose to spend several hours on the phone with Jay Bouw, shut in his room, over talking to Marco.

And when he did choose to talk to Marco, Marco made sure to put the phone away, turn the tv off, make sure that there were no distractions. Not that Marco wasn’t one hundred percent down for distracting Colton when the blonde wanted him to.

15\. 

The first time Colton got a cold after they had gotten together, Marco made Chicken Noodle Soup. From scratch. Using his grandmother’s recipe.

And he made sure that Colton didn’t move more than necessary, set up camp for him on the couch. He offered to leave a bell next to Colton if he needed help. Colton had rolled his eyes and asked Marco to join him. And Marco smiled softly when Colton fell asleep on his chest not even ten minutes later.

16\. 

Colton met the entire Scandella clan over FaceTime when Marco had gone to his family reunion - scheduled for their Bye Week. Marco grinned widely as his whole family was charmed by Colton.

Later he told Colton that his mother and grandmother were already referring to Colton as his husband, so they should probably make that official. Colton had blushed and laughed and thanked Marco for introducing him to everyone.

Colton returned the favor when his family came to visit. Marco immediately charmed his mom and sister and Colton watched them interact with a soft smile.

“Your grandma would have liked him,” Colton’s dad told Colton after Marco had gone outside to start up the grill.

And that’s when Colton knew that Marco and him… they were a forever thing.

17\. 

Marco asked Colton a month out from their anniversary what he wanted to do. When Colton responded that he just wanted a quiet night in, Marco started planning.

He got Colton’s favorite bottle of wine, found the perfect recipes, and - when the day came - sent Colton out with Steener so he could put his plan into action.

When Colton got home - right on schedule - the table was set, candles lit in the center of the table, the lights dimmed and Marco grinning at him.

“Happy anniversary.” Marco greeted.

Colton couldn’t find the words so he just kissed Marco, who had no complaints and jokingly started listing off all the ways Colton could make it up to him.

18\. 

Colton didn’t like spiders. It was a fact that he had kept hidden from everyone. 

Until Marco.

Who came running when Colton let out a shriek.

He just bit his lip to keep in a laugh and trapped the spider between the newspaper and a glass and took the spider outside.

19\. 

Colton got shoved hard into the boards and Marco saw red, grabbed the culprit and easily took him down to the ice, making sure to remember his number.

“You didn’t have to do that,” Colton told him when they got to the locker room at the end of the period.

“I know,” Marco shrugged, “but I don’t like seeing you get hurt.”

Colton just blushed lightly and squeezed Marco’s bicep, knowing anything else would get them fined.

20\. 

Marco wanted a kitten. And Colton really couldn’t deny him when he saw the selfie of Marco holding a tiny black kitten.

“I thought we said one?” Colton said when Marco opened the carrier and three came out.

“They were the last ones in the litter,” Marco pouted.

Colton just rolled his eyes fondly and kissed him. It was Colton’s fault, really. He never should have let Marco go to the shelter alone.

21\. 

It was freezing and snowing gently and nearing 8pm, but Colton and Marco were walking hand-in-hand toward the Grand Basin in Forest Park. Colton didn’t know why, but it would never turn down the chance to see it at night, with the Art Museum shining at the top of the hill. 

Colton was leaning against the railing, the fountain empty and hay bales were set up at the bottom of the hill on the chance that there was enough snow for sledding, when he felt movement next to him. 

When he looked over, Marco was on one knee, holding up a box with a simple silver band.

“Yes.” Colton replied before Marco could say anything.

“You sure you don’t want to hear the speech? Because I had a whole speech prepared.” Marco grinned.

Colton pulled him up and kissed him. When he pulled away, he whispered out, “I love you.”


End file.
